"This is a moment where Democrats and Republicans can come together and show that in the wake of a horrific attack, when one community is attacked in the United States of America, the United States of America stands together and united to help," Schultz said.

Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., also traveled with the president. Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson was part of the group that greeted Obama's arrival. He flew down earlier with Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. As the two Florida senators were landing in their home state, senators were working on a plan to address two gun-related measures on the floor, votes forced by a 15-hour filibuster by Sen. Christopher S. Murphy. The Democratic senator hails from Connecticut, where a gunman in 2012 killed 20 young students and six adults at an elementary school.

During the flight, the White House threw its support behind one of the measures.

Obama hopes the Orlando massacre would cause GOP lawmakers to reverse course and support the Feinstein measure and others like it, Schultz said, adding the president hopes the worst mass shooting incident in American history would an era in which, as he described it, Republicans have “carried water for the NRA."